Westwood designv3

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The long borders are punctuated by the evergreen
strap-like leaves of the New Zealand flax plant
(Phormium tenax) with their soaring seed heads.
Cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’ gives a burst of orange,
glowing in the winter sun, whilst the white stems of
Rubus thibetanus lives up to its name as the ghost
bramble in the misty light.

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As the winter wears on, the silky plumes of the
Chinese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) slowly
lose their fluffy tails, but still catching the frost and
standing tall. Early colour comes from the acid yellow
and green of the Mahonia aquifolium with its lemon
scent, and the Mediterranean spurge Euphorbia
characias subsp. wulfenii. This grows on the East
terrace below the coat of arms bearing the family
motto ‘Thy sword is thy friend’.

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Morning mists clear and the grass regains its colour as
the sun creeps across the fields in the valley where the
shepherd’s hut nestles. By the stream, an old rickety
ladder, leading to a hyde has withstood many winters
despite its frail appearance.

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SPRING

Usually the first signs of spring appear in sheltered pockets along the hedgerows, where
clusters of pale lemon coloured primroses peek out, brightening up the wintery greys.

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IN SOME YEARS, the earliest daffodils on the drive will begin to the fields. Agreements with the Gooding brothers, who farm the
flower before their elected time of mid-March. But all these portents land adjacent to Westwood, allow all of the fields to be managed
of brighter mornings and new growth can provide false hope, for and fully utilised. Whether it be for grazing, arable or pheasant
many of the plants at Westwood are still dormant. The exposed cover, the patchwork of the land is always somewhat shifting in
position and cold winds can mean that spring is often up to three colour and texture.
weeks later here than in many other more protected places.
As spring progresses, cowslips dot the fields and the woodlands
But in the vegetable garden, the Alitex greenhouse enables the light up with the haze of the bluebells, followed by the clear white and
gardeners to steal a march on the weather, starting off seedlings in vibrant green of the wild garlic. Extensive woodland management
the hot beds straight after Christmas. The nineteenth-century seed over the past fifteen years has resulted in a thinning of trees allowing
planting proverb “One for the mouse, one for the crow, one to rot, one more light to the woodland floor. This often allows the bulbs which
to grow” is well heeded here, as the mice are particularly voracious. have remained dormant for years, to spring to life again. Year on year,
these have spread and colonised the woods, creating a tapestry carpet
As well as the proliferation of bird song as the days lengthen, the of colour, particularly evident in Breach Wood.
over-riding sound around the landscape is of the lambs bleating in

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A whole colony of House Martins take up resident in the of songbirds arriving from their winter destinations. Sir Edward
courtyard garden each spring, tucking their nests tight up under the Grey, the Foreign Secretary between 1905 – 1916, and an amateur
eaves, where their young excitedly peer out waiting for a tasty treat. naturalist described his song as “a symbol, a promise, an assurance
In April, the song of the Chiff-chaff is one of the first of the rush of what is to come.”

Magnolia x loebneri ‘Merril’ is a particularly hardy
specimen tree, which now peeps over the driveway
wall, producing many large scented flowers from
late March, before the leaves appear. It is particularly
suited to the cold of Westwood as the flowers are far
less prone to frost damage than other magnolias.

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On the lower lawn, the wild crab apples, Malus
torongoides unfurl their leaves, whilst the tangle of
russet buds of the Amelanchier lamarckii wait to
open. This multi-stemmed bush is also known as the
Serviceberry, Shadbush and Juneberry on account of
its black berries loved by blackbirds and which can be
substituted for sloes in gin.

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A range of daffodils were planted over the first five
years to provide a long flowering season, starting
with early Narcissus ‘Mount Hood’ and N. ‘Bestseller’
along the driveway verges. Other varieties in the
spring garden and on the grass slopes around the
Sequoiadendron trees include: N.’White Lion,
N.’Golden Harvest’, N.’White Marvel’, N.’Obdam’ and
a dwarf mix.

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Tulips have always been planted in the terracotta
pots for spring displays with contrasting white
and purple or pink tulips such as T. ‘Snowstar,
T. ‘Albert Heijn’ and T. ‘Paul Scherer’. Here, the early
flowering Exotic Emperor contrasts with the deep
blue bracts of a Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’

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The vegetable garden is run on the crop rotation
system and by mid spring there are many vegetables
ready to plant out. Meanwhile, in the bothy, metal
bins house the previous year’s potato harvest. Still
supplying the house as late as March, favourite
varieties are Carlingford, Arran Pilot and Charlotte.
Asparagus spears are ready to be harvested by the
beginning of April, and in the greenhouse the peach
tree (Prunus ‘Peregrine’) planted in 2012, blossoms in
preparation for an abundant harvest.

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In the long grass of the East lawns, around 1000 tulips
are planted each autumn. The tall stems of Apeldoorn’s
Elite and Beauty of Apeldoorn are hybrids which hold
traditionally-shaped cups of colour creating a sweet
shop array of reds, oranges and yellows, gently fading
to soft apricot. This continues a tradition started in
the orchard at The Manor in Marshfield, when several
hundred red Apeldoorn tulips were planted in the long
meadow grass.

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